Prostate microenvironment and prostate cancer progression - Chromosomal damage and genomic instability are hallmarks of carcinogenesis, and micronutrients and genetics interact to protect the genome against this deleterious process. Recent evidence from our group and others suggests that several antioxidant nutrients may protect against the development of prostate cancer, and genetic variants involved with DNA repair and antioxidant metabolism may modify the influence of pre-diagnostic antioxidant status on prostate cancer risk. Through the following 3 Specific Aims, we will expand on these findings and investigate whether circulating post-diagnostic antioxidants (i.e. lycopene, total carotenoids, alpha- &gamma- tocopherol, and selenium) and genotypes (i.e. MnSOD, GPX1, GSTM1, GSTT1, XRCC1, OGG1) are associated with: (Aim 1) prostate cancer clinical phenotype: (Aim 2) prostate tumor genomic instability: and (Aim 3) risk of recurrence/ progression. Gleason score at diagnosis (biopsy) will reflect clinical phenotype;and global tumor copy number aberrations will indicate tumor gerbmic instability. We will evaluate 1000 men from an existing study who were diagnosed with incident localized/regional prostate cancer, donated blood and tissue for research purposes prior to treatment, and consented to follow-up. We hypothesize that lower circulating lycopene, total carotenoids, alpha- &gamma-tocopherol, and selenium and specific gene variants will be associated with increased Gleason score, tumor genomic instability, and risk of recurrence/progression. We also hypothesize that these circulating antioxidants and genetic variants will interact to affect the aggressiveness and course of disease. The goal of this project is to determine whether antioxidant nutrition after cancer initiation influences tumor aggressiveness and progression, and whether this depends on genotype. Strengths of this study include the 1) scientific novelty and importance, 2) efficiency of building on existing studies, 3) clinical and public health relevance, 4) multi-disciplinary collaborative research team, and 5) excellent resources of UGSF and DFCI. This study may lead to improved public health through the development of new nutritional guidelines for cancer patients, or the initiation of adjuvant or neoadjuvant randomized clinical trials of antioxidant interventions, focused on populations with specific genotypes.